An example of conventional article transport facilities is described in JP Publication of Application No. 2000-250628 (Patent Document 1). In the article transport facility of Patent Document 1, a check area e1 and a control zone d1 are defined as management areas. In addition, a first travel course L1 and a third travel course L3 are set up as travel paths. The upstream end of the third travel course L3 is connected to the first travel course L1.
An article transport vehicle transmits a first signal when traveling in the first travel course L1 and when traveling in the third travel course L3. And when the article transport vehicle enters the check area e1 of the first travel course L1 and receives the first signal from the article transport vehicle, a controller performs a stop control if the controller receives a first signal from another article transport vehicle that is traveling in the first travel course L1 or the third travel course L3 in the control zone d1. On the other hand, the controller performs a travel control if the controller does not receives a first signal from another article transport vehicle that is traveling in the first travel course L1 or in the third travel course L3 in the control zone d1. The controller thus prevents collisions between article transport vehicles in the managed area by controlling article transport vehicles in this way in the managed area.